Outside Counsel Guidelines

Our experience suggests that more than two thirds of major change management efforts within legal departments typically fail. We recognize that traditional change management techniques do not always work in the legal environment.

Outside Counsel Guidelines

Outside Counsel Guidelines: Objectives

Argopoint works with clients to develop and implement effective strategies in dealing with and managing outside counsel guidelines. As an industry leader in outside counsel rationalization and RFP processes, Argopoint is committed to ensuring that the client gets the most out of their outside counsel services. Argopoint works closely with clients to formulate outside counsel guidelines that effectively target the goals of the corporate legal department and ensure long-term and effective relationships with outside counsel resources.

Outside Counsel Guidelines: Overview

Argopoint works closely with each in-house legal team to set up the appropriate requirements and regulations for each outside counsel relationship. The outside counsel guidelines serve as a framework for this engagement, and provide the outside counsel with appropriate guidance and expectations regarding their work for the client.

The most important part of a successful client-counsel relationship is constant and effective communication. The outside counsel is expected to be in constant contact with the in-house legal team. This includes providing timely information on important dates, deadlines, staffing, and expenditures on the client’s behalf. Our guidelines require that this communication with the in-house team be constant and accurate, in order that the client can make any decisions that they believe to be prudent or necessary. Given that the client has the responsibility to make all substantive decisions about the matters underlying the representation, the outside counsel has the responsibility to keep the client well informed on a timely basis to enable the client to make those decisions.

Outside Counsel Guidelines: Staffing

Argopoint is committed to equal opportunity and fair treatment for all lawyers and law firms without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or either characteristic protected by law, and aid in the selection of outside counsel based solely on merit, qualifications, and other matter-related criteria.

Outside Counsel Guidelines: Reporting Requirements

Outside counsel are required to document all activities matters pertaining to the matter at hand. While the final format and content of outside counsel reports may be determined on a firm-by-firm basis, the outside counsel guidelines indicate that all important deadlines, statuses, documents, case developments, and events should be documented for easy review by the client. This reporting is vital to ensuring that the client can keep track of all matters related to the outside counsel’s assignment, as well as tracking the effectiveness and efficiency of the outside counsel themselves.